House propane connections

Pretty diverse group on TW so maybe someone has dealt with this before.
I am having a hell of a time trying to get my 250 gallon propane tank filled. Amerigas keeps saying that due to covid my local branch is shutdown and drivers are being dispatched from the next nearest office about an hour away. I have requested a fill every week since 11/1 and they just keep saying they will notify dispatch. Currently I am down to 5% which will last a week. Worst case I will have another company drop a tank at my house but they obviously want to do the connections and charge a butt load of $$$$.

So this whole issue makes me think about worst case scenario. I want to have a backup for the future. Ideally a 100lb tank that I can swap in. Friends have told me that they have had the propane co ccome out during a emergency and they connected a 20lb tank to the regulator and then the big truck showed up the next day and filled the big tank.

I am in construction and have done plenty of remodels where I had to run new lines for furnaces and stoves. I have the pressure testing tools. I know how to flush and purge the lines. But I have never messed around with anything from the regulator to tank.

My current reg is a 2 stage reg with a fpol inlet and 3/4 outlet. I know I can get a fpol pigtail but I real dont think I want to mess around with unscrewing and moving the copper line even if its only a few times a year.

So since regulators are cheap I was thinking about Teeing off the 3/4 outlet and installing a ball valve and new regulator that I can connect my emergency tank too.

any ideas?

 

I connected a 100 lb tank with adapters. Ran my hot water that way until I bought and installed my 250lb. In New Hampshire we are allowed to do are own work. I had an issue with the company that owned an in ground tank.

 

you adapted from the fpol fittings with the copper line or did you find a whip that had fpol at one end and bbq connector at the other? Or does the 100lb tank have a different thread than the 20lb?

 

It has been too long for me to remember, but it seems like BBQ to the regulator. I had one to adapt a small propane tank grill. But it really has been too long. I ended up ordering my own regulator for my new tank, and never order one for one on the house. The inspector told me the one on the house is owned by the home owner. But I high jacked the regulator on the old tank for my 100 lb "fix".

 

I would check with the county on who can do the work and what permits are required. Your insurance company may balk if anything unforeseen happens.

 

My neighbor is the Asst Director of Planning. So it will all be done to code and above board.

My plumber called and said tee off the outlet and run a separate reg. He dosent know how the propane co handles the emergency 20lb bottle hookups even though he has seen them being used that way at jobsites.

I have a propane co tech coming tomorrow to do a site check. I will see what he says, but as with most trades he isnt going to give up the secrets to someone that dosent smell like rector seal.